Skip to content
  • MyNewMarkets.com
  • Claims Journal
  • Insurance Journal TV
  • Academy of Insurance
  • Carrier Management
Insurance Journal - Property Casualty Industry News

Featured Stories

  • Cat Bond Investors Told to Brace for Jamaica Payout
  • Berkley Explains Property Market, Company Appetite
  • Articles
  • Jobs
  • Markets

Current Magazine

current magazine
  • Read Online
  • Subscribe
  • Login
  • Front Page
    • National
    • International
    • Most Popular
    • Magazine
    • Forums
    • Blogs
    • Videos/Podcasts
    • Newsletters
  • News
    • Most Popular
    • National
    • International
    • East
    • Midwest
    • South Central
    • Southeast
    • West
  • Magazines
  • Research
  • Directories
  • Jobs
  • Features
    • Events
    • Forums
    • Market Directories
    • Quotes
    • Polls
    • Rankings & Awards
    • Insurance Giving Back
  • Subscribe

DEI Purge Drives 34% Drop in Pro-ESG Investor Proposals

By Jack Queen and Luc Cohen | April 3, 2025
Email This Subscribe to Newsletter
  • Article
  • 4 Comments

President Donald Trump’s crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion helped prompt a plunge in shareholder resolutions from progressive investors that typically push companies on social reform.

Motions filed by groups in favor of environmental, social and governance policies dropped 34% from a year ago to 355 ahead of this year’s annual meeting season, according to a new report Thursday.

At the same time, anti-DEI proposals, which are considered part of ESG, surged. Alliance Defending Freedom, which leads one of the most active conservative investor groups, said its coalition submitted 70 proposals this year, up from 28 in 2024.

As companies try to comply with the president’s push to root out DEI from US contractors and other private businesses, shareholders are trying to “help them through this difficult period,” said Andrew Behar, chief executive officer of shareholder advocacy group As You Sow.

“We have tempered down some of our asks,” Behar said, noting that his group filed 58 resolutions this year, down from 99 last year. As You Sow released Thursday’s report with Proxy Impact, a shareholder engagement and proxy voting services provider.

Activists have for decades used the annual meeting season to ask investors to support reform of corporate governance, pay, climate, diversity and other social issues. More recently, conservative groups have flooded such meetings with their own proposals to counter those campaigns.

Although support for social issues has fallen since 2021, anti-ESG and anti-DEI motions have historically received only about 2% of shareholder votes.

As well as the Trump administration’s assault on DEI, pro-ESG groups were hampered this year by new guidelines from the Securities and Exchange Commission that made it more difficult to win approval for some resolutions to be put to a shareholder vote, Behar said.

Companies have also sought more engagement with activists this year in an effort to keep DEI-related issues off the proxy ballot given the new administration’s sharp focus on those policies.

Still, some pro-DEI proposals are continuing to garner support. A motion for a racial audit at Deere & Co. filed by activist John Chevedden won the backing of 30% of shareholders at its meeting in February. Deere, the world’s top farm machinery maker, in July said it would pull back from diversity measures after its policies were attacked by anti-DEI influencer Robby Starbuck.

Copyright 2025 Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Was this article valuable?

Thank you! Please tell us what we can do to improve this article.

Thank you! % of people found this article valuable. Please tell us what you liked about it.

Here are more articles you may enjoy.

AWS Outage a ‘Moderate Incident,’ Another Near Miss for Insurance Industry
Florida Jury Awards Jack Nicklaus $50M in Defamation Suit vs. His Former Company
Trucking App Trucker Path Launches Retail Insurance Agency
AI Learning and Artificial Intelligence Concept. Business, modern technology, internet and networking concept.Viewpoint: Insurance and AI – A Double-Edged Sword

Written By Jack Queen

More From Author

Written By Luc Cohen

More From Author

The most important insurance news,
in your inbox every business day.

Get the insurance industry's trusted newsletter

Email This Subscribe to Newsletter
  • Categories: National NewsTopics: Directors & Officers (D&O), diversity equity inclusion (DEI), environmental social and governance (ESG)
  • Have a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk@insurancejournal.com

Featured Comment

  • April 3, 2025 at 9:03 am
    PolarBeaRepeal says:
    Like or Dislike:
    Thumb up 5
    Thumb down 11

    Sanity is returning to boardrooms, globally, one by one.

Latest Comments

  • April 3, 2025 at 3:36 pm
    Joe says:
    A return to common sense, which is a very good thing.
  • April 3, 2025 at 2:46 pm
    Me Again says:
    Disgusting
  • April 3, 2025 at 10:00 am
    Tiger88 says:
    Oh No!!!! Anyway...

Add a CommentSee All Comments (4)Add a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

*

More News
UN Sees World’s Emissions Falling 10% by 2035, Far Short of 60% Goal
Progressive Now 4th Largest Global Insurer; RenRe Fastest Growing in ’24
Generali, Natixis Owner Likely to Drop Asset Management Deal, Sources Say
Europe’s Top Rights Court Rejects Climate Challenge Against Norway’s Oil
More News Features

Read This Next

  • DEI Purge Drives 34% Drop in Pro-ESG Investor Proposals
  • Growth Momentum Continues for Program Business: TMPAA
  • Illinois Sues State Farm for Refusal to Release Homeowners' Insurance Data
  • Marsh McLennan and Businesses to Unify Under 'Marsh' Brand; New Unit Created
  • The Government Action Exclusion

Insurance Jobs

  • Insurance Account Executive - Remote/ Brooklyn, NY
  • Regional Sales Manager - Irving, TX
  • Property Liability Claims Supervisor - Wilsonville, OR
  • Senior Underwriter - Denver, CO ( Hybrid)
  • Business Development Representative - Remote/Pittsburgh, PA/Allentown, PA
MyNewMarkets
  • Bigger Piece of the Pie: Surplus Lines Market Hits New Record as Specialty Lines Continue to Grow in Prominence, Market Share
  • Death and Insurance (Not Taxes): Part One
  • AI for Agents
  • How to Attract the Next Generation to Insurance
  • 5 Evolving Trends Shaping Architects and Engineers Coverage
Claims Journal
  • What's Happening in The Claims Profession? Read This, Then Tell Us
  • Truck Driver in Fatal Crash Repeatedly Failed Driving Tests, Florida AG Office Says
  • Mondelez Defeats Greenwashing Suit Over 'Climate Neutral' Clif Bar Claim
  • ZEVs Accounted for 1-in-4 California Auto Sales as Tax Credit Wound Down
  • Apple Seeks to End Apple Pay Trade Secrets Lawsuit
Academy of Insurance education
  • October 21 E&S Property Underwriting
  • October 23 Gotchas That'll Getchya - Latest Policy Language That'll Get You Sued
  • October 30 Challenges in Agency Mergers – Reducing Staff Flight and Avoiding E&O Claims
  • November 6 Risk and Insurance for Digital Nomads

Insurance News

  • News by Region
  • News by Topic
  • Yesterday

Site Search

Features

  • Insurance Markets Directory
  • Forums
  • A.M. Best Company Ratings
  • Industry Events
  • Agencies For Sale
  • Newswire
  • Insurance Jobs
  • Rankings & Awards

Connect with us

  • Email Newsletters
  • Magazine Subscriptions
  • For Your Website
  • RSS Feeds
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Do Not Sell My Info

Insurance Journal

  • Submit News
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Reprints
  • Link to Us
  • Contact Us

Wells Media Group Network

  • Insurance Journal
  • MyNewMarkets.com
  • Claims Journal
  • Insurance Journal TV
  • Academy of Insurance
  • Carrier Management
© 2025 by Wells Media Group, Inc. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Site Map